Power take-off mechanism for tractors



Oct. 13, 1931. w. J. COULTAS ETAL POWER TAKE-OFF MECHANISM FOR TRAOTORS Filed Jan. 23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l 51 Urn eg foot. 13, 1931.

Filed Jan. 2:. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .ll giz x II Patented a 13. 1931 UNIT-ED STATES-PATENT. OFFICE wrnnua .1. couaras AND manna c. mvnsav, or nouns, rumors, assreuoas 'ro DEERE a oomrm, or momma, rumors, A comm-r1011. or rumors rowan. a'E-orr mncammu iron rmorons Application ed January 88, 19538. flerlal No. 248,619.

lifhe present invention relates generally to mechanisms for mechanically transmitting power between any two pivotally coupled vehicles, such as between a farm tractor and an agricultural implement which is being propelled thereby. low'er take-ofi mechanisms are now used extensively in tractor farming operations to transmit power from the engine of the tractor directly to an operj ating mechanism or mechanisms of the agricultural implement. Such power take-off? mechanisms generally comprise a power shaft extending between the vehicles and having a universal jointtherein to permit relative angulation between the shaft sections in the steerinrfmovement of thetractor. According to the prior methods of constructing these mechanisms, serious operating diificulties arise therein when the. tractor is making a Q) turn on a relatively short radius. This is due to the fact that the conventional form of universal joint. is only capable of transmitting power efficiently through a limited angle of deflection of the two shaft sections, and

33 when the working angle between the shaft sections is extended beyond such point the universal joint begins to vibrate excessively and to slow down in speed, and, if the angle is carried to a critical point, the universal 9 joint becomes locked against the transmission of any power. j

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an -improvedconstruction of power takeoff mechanism extending between a'tractor and implement, or between any other pair of pivotally coupled vehicles,

which power take-oil mechanism will permit an unlimited range of steering movement of one vehicle relative to the other without im- 4) posing any constraint on-the operation of the mechanism. Considering the invention broadly, such object is attained by providing a sectionalized power transmitting shaft having a plurality of universal joints therein which are arranged; to cooperate with the steering movement of the tractor in such manner that thesteering angle is fractionally distributedbetween the'series of joints,that is to say, the steering angle of the tractor with reference to the implement is not imposed upon. any one universal joint, but di'ferent portions of this angle are distributed between a plurality of joints, so that irrespective of the sharpness or the steering angle, no one universal joint is required to operate at an angle exceeding the angle of its best wormng efi'ioiency. More specifically, the invention contemplates providing a multiple section 'ointed shaft together with means for swingmg the intermediate sections of the shaft outwardly or away from the steering angle be tween the tractor and implement, so that the angle of deflection between any pair of adiacent shaft sections is maintained comparavtively small even when the tractor is making a turn on a relatively short radius.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment-thereof. In the accompanying drawings illustrating such embodiment:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view illustrating the power take-0E or transmission mechanism, the tractor and implement being shown fragmentarily.

Fig. 2 is a plan view on a larger scale of the power take-01f mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view thereof, corresponding approximately to a section talffn on theplane of the line 3-3 of Fig.1, an 4 Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view taken approximately on the plane of the line 44 l o i Fig. 3.

' Referring toFig. 1, the rear portion of a conventional design of tractor 1s fragmen tarily illustrated at 7, the'latter comprising the usual tractor wheels 8, fenders 9. and draw bar 11. A brace bar 12 usually extends transversely between the lower rear. ends of the fenders 9.. The operators seat is illustrated at 13. The front'portion of any representative type of tractor propelled farm implemember 15, which is illustrated: as being constructed in the form of an arched frame. Such frame comprises two converging angle bars 1616, and a front channel bar 17 which has its rear end secured to the angle bars 16, The latter bars are provided at their rear ends with clips or plates 18 which form clev ises adapted to have pivotal attachment through bolts 19 with draft tongues or bars 21 extending forwardly from the implement. The two pivot bolts 19 are alined to provide a transverse pivot axis betweenthe implement 14.- and draft member 15, which permits fore and aft tilting between the two. The front end of each angle bar 16 has its flanges folded together and fastened by bolts 23 to the sides of a hollow frame member 2% (see l ig. 3). The channel 17 has its flanges extending upwardly, and the rear end of this channel is bent at a downward inclination to have its web portion fastened to the top of the frame member 2 by bolts 25. The front end of such channel isapertured to receive a draft pin 26 which is passed down through the end of the tractor draw bar 11.. A. reinforcing bar 27 is bolted to the under side of the frame member 24 and extends forwardly for receiving the coupling pin 26 on the under side of the draw bar ll. It will be seen that the foregoing construction of draft member provides a single pivot steering connection between the tractor and .the implement, such single pivot corresponding to the coupling pin 26. Vfhen the draft member is employed in conjunction with a grain harvester or hinder, any suitable mechanism may be provided for causing relative tilting 'movement between the implement frame and the draft mem-' ber 15, such mechanism being typically represented by the swinging arm 28 mounted on the implement and by the link 29which has adjustable connection between such arm and thedraft member 15.

The power take-off or transmission mechanism consists of an articulated line of shafting extending between the tractor and the'imtill plement. This line of shafting comprises a driving shaft 31 (Fig. 2) mounted on the tractor, and a driven shaft 32 mounted on the implement. The driving shaft has any suitable geared connection withthe engine of the tractor so as to be driven thereby either constantly or under the control of the operator, and the driven shaft 32 has any suitable operative connection with the mechaaeaaovc 'nism which is to bev driven on the implement. Said drivin and driven shafts are operatively connected by two intermediate shaft sections 33 and 3d. The front shaft section 33 is a funnel shaped housing 38 so as to prevent the possibility of the operator or his clothing becoming caught in the rotating parts. The shaft section 33 is divided into two parts which are connected together to permit entension or contraction of the shaft section.

To this end the shaft section proper is pref erably of squareor polygonal cross section and slides in a correspondingly shaped bore formed in a sleeve 39 which is connected to the intermediate universal joint 3'2, lt will be noted that the three universal joints together with the extensible connection 39 permit relative fore and aft tilting movement between the driving and driven shafts 31 and 32 when the tractor and implement are traveling over uneven ground, as. well as permitting horizontal angulation. between said shafts in the steering movement of the tractor.

The two intermediate shaft sections 33 and 34- are supported at a substantially predetermined height above the draft member 15 by a bearing sleeve 4:1 in which the rear shaft section 34 has rotatable bearing support, preferably at a point directly in rear of the intermediate universal joint 37. This bearing sleeve also functions to shift the shaft sections outwardly or away from the steering angle between the tractor andimplement, as will now be described. The sleeve is mounted fontransverse sliding movement tilt on a horizontal guide bar i2, which constitutes part of a triangularly shaped frame 43 pivotally mounted on the draft member 15.

The outer ends of the guide bar 42 are bolted at 44 to two inclined frame bars 4:5 which entend downwardly toward the draft member.

The lower ends of such frame bars are ap- -ertured to receive pivot bolts 46 which pass through the upwardly turned ends of a bar 47 which is fixedly secured to the angle bars 16 of the draft member. The two alined pivot bolts 46 define a horizontal pivot axis relative to which the frame 43 can swing fore and aft on the draft member 15.

The bearing sleeve 41 is mounted on a sliding block or carrier 48 which is guided for sliding movement along the bar 42. Beferring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that such sliding member is of channel-shaped cross section and has lower flanges 49 which are pivotal connections comprise a U-shaped' member or yoke 51 which has its lower central portion swiveled upon a bearing pin 52 extendin upwardly from theslider mem ber 48, the -shaped member being held upon such swivel pin by a cotter pin 53 or the like extending throu h the upper portion of the swivel pin 52. e bearing sleeve 41 is disposed between the arms of the u-shaped.

member 51, and has laterally extending trunnion pins 54 whichare disposed in bearing openings in said arms. It will be evident that the foregoing construction permits the U-shaped member 51'to swivel substantially horizontally about the pin 52, and permits the bearing sleeve 41 to tilt fore and aft with I reference to this U-shaped member. I

The turning movement of the tractor is utilized to transmit sliding movement to the carrier member 48 through the instrumentality of flexible connections or links extend ing between such carrier member and the tractor. These flexible connections or links preferably comprise two chains 56 which are disposed above the guide bar 42 and which have their inner ends suitably linked to hooks 57 extending upwardly from the ends of the carrier member 48. The chains pass outwardly and forwardly around sheaves or pulleys 58 which have pivotal mounting in bearing yokes 59 securedto the ends of the frame members 42 or 45. The front ends of such chains are linked to rods 61 which have pivotal connection with the tractor 7 at laterally spaced, points on opposite sides I of the vertical plane of the coupling pin 26.

Such pivotal connections are shown as being established by turning the ends ofthese rods downwardly through holes inbracket members 62 projecting rearwardly from thetransverse fender bar 12, the rods or links 61 being held in their pivot apertures in the brackets- 62 by cotter pins or nuts engaging with the lower end portions of the rods; Spring ten-- sion is normally maintained on the pivoted.- frame 43, normally tending to swing the same rearwardly and thereby maintaining the chains 56 and rods 61 taut. As best shown in Fig. 2, a V-shaped rod' or member 64 has 'anism. Assuming the tractor to be swinging to the right relative to the coupling pin 26, the forward movement of the bracket the corresponding and the rearwar 62 on the left side of the tractor willdraw rod or link 61 forwardly, I movement of the bracket 62 on the right side of the tractor 'will permit the opposite rod. or link 61 to move rearwardly. "In consequence of this action the sliding carrier 48 will be shifted to the left along the guide bar 42, thereby swmging the two shaft sections 33'34 and the intermediate universal joint 37 outwardly or in a direction away from the steering angle subtended between the tractor and. implement. Asa result,the front shaft section 33 is made to follow, to a lesser degree, the swinging movement of the driving shaft 31,

thus tending to reduce the angular deviation or disalinement between said shafts. Hence, only part of the total angular swing of the tractor is imposed on the front universal joint 35.- The swinging of the two shaft sections ,33-34 to the left places these shaft sections at a slight angle so that-the intermediate universal joint is caused to operate through a slight working angle, and similarly such deflection of the shaftsections establishes an angle between the rear section 34 and the driven section 32 so that the rear universal joint36 is also caused to operate through a slight working angle. It will be noted that this action is-equivalent in efiTact to distributing the steering angle of the tractor between the. three universal joints, so that no one ioint assumes any considerablepropo-rtion of the steering angle between the vehicles. With the shaft sections thus deflected laterally, they lie substantially in the re ation of adjacent cords of an arc'extending substantially through the centers of the joints, with the result that the oyerall length of the line of shafting is increased. Such increase in length is accommodated by the tion. When the two vehicles come back into a substantially straight line, after the'completion of the turning movement, the intermediate shaft sections are automatically returned to their normal positions in the line of shafting between the vehicles. Inthe event that some abnormal condition should prevent lateral shifting of the intermediate shaft sections, the pivotedframe 43 is freeto swing forwardly under the pulling action of the forwardly moving rod 61, in opposition to the tension of the spring 65, so that no break age ofthe parts can occur. The tension of said spring, acting on the frame 43, tends [to maintain the flexible connections 56 and shaft section 33 sliding outwardly in the long 61 taut at all times. When the two vehicles are tilting fore and aft with reference to each other, as in traveling over uneven ground, or arising from adjustment of the implement relative to the draft connections, the lengthening and shortening of the telescopic connection 39 will readily accommodate such.

tilting movement. The ability of the pivoted frame 43 to swing fore and aft also accommodates such tilting movement.

V fhile the construction above described con-.

stitutes what we consider to be the preferred embodiment of our invention, nevertheless it will he understood that such embodiment is merely exemplary, and that numerous changes and rearrangements may be made therein without departing from the essence 1. The combination with a tractor and an implement, of power take-off mechanism extending between said tractor and said imple ment comprising an articulated shaft, and means for swinging the intermediate portion of said articulated shaft away from the steering angle between the tractor and implement in the steering movement of said tractor.

2. The combination with a tractor and implement, of power transmission mechanism extending therebetween and comprising an articulated shaft, and means operated automatically by the steering movement of the tractor for swinging the intermediate ortion of said articulated shaft outwardly in a direction away from the steering angle between the tractor and implement.

8. The combination with a tractor and an implement, said tractor having a driving shaft, and said implement having a driven shaft, of power take-off mechanism for connecting said shafts, said mechanism comprising a pair of shaft sections, universal joints connecting said shaft sections to said driving and driven shafts, and an intermediate universal joint between said shaft sections, and means operative during the steering movement of the tractor for swinging said intermediate universal joint laterally in a direction opposite to the turning movement of the tractor.

4. The combination with a tractor and an implement pivotally coupled thereto, said tractor having a driving shaft and said implement a driven shaft, of power take-off mechanism for connecting said shafts, said mechanism comprising an intermediate shaft section, a universal joint connecting said Y neat-gore shaft section to said driving shaft, and means operative during the steering movement of the tractor for swinging said shaft section in a direction corresponding to the direction of swinging movementof said driving shaft but through less than one-half of the arcuate movement of said drive shaft to thereby lessen the angularity through which said universal joint must transmit its drive.

5. The combination with two vehicles and a draft member pivotally connecting the same, of power transmission mechanism comprising an articulated line of shafting extending between said vehicles, a shiftable member mounted on said draft member and operative to swing the intermediate portion of said line of shaftin in a lateral direction, and means operated by the steering movement of one of said vehicles for actuating said shiftable member.

6. The combination with a tractor and an implement pivotally coupled together, of power transmission mechanism extending from said tractor to said implement and comprising a plurality of shaft sections, universal joints connecting said shaft sections, a. guide member for moving one of said shaft sections laterally, and means operated by the steering movement of said tractor for actuating said guide member.

7. The combination with a tractor and an implement, and a draft member pivotally couplingthe two together, of power transmission mechanism extending from said tractor to said implement, comprising a plurality of shaft sections, universal joints connecting said shaft sections, a bearing'member for one of said shaft sections mounted for lateral shifting movement on said draft member, and means operated by the steering movement of said tractor for shifting said bearing member.

8. The combination with a tractor, an implement, and a-draft member pivotally coupling the same together, of power take-off mechanism comprising an articulated line of shafting extending between said tractor and said implement, and a support for the intermediate portion of said line of shafting, said support being pivotally mounted on said draft member for fore and aft swinging movement. 1 v

9. The combination with a tractor. an implement, and a draft member pivotally coupling the same together, of power take-off mechanism extending from said tractor to said implement and comprising a plurality of shaft sections, universal joints connecting said shaft sections, a supporting member for one of the intermediate shaft sections, said supporting member being mounted for trans verse shifting movement on said draft me1nber, flexible connections between said supporting member and the tractor for causing shifting movement of said supporting member with the steering movement of said tracing shaft on said tracto? a driven shaft on sa1d implement, a pair 0 intermediate shaft sections, universal joints connecting the ends of said shaft sections to said drivin and driven shafts, an intermediate universa joint connecting the adjacent ends of said shaft sect1ons, an extensible and contractible telescopic connection interposed in the frontshaft section, a bearing sleeve in which the rear shaft section is journaled, a frame pivotally mounted on said draft member for fore and aft swinging movement, said frame comprising a transversely e ending guide bar, a carrier member shiftable along said guide bar, means pivotally supporting said bearing sleeve on said carrier member for pivotal movement inaopposite planes, sheaves mounted adjacent to. the outer ends of said frame, flexible members passing over said sheaves and having their, inner ends connected to said carrier member, means connecting the outer ends of said flexible members to the tractor at points spaced laterally from the coupled connection of said tractor with said draft member, and spring means connected to said frame normally tending to swing the latter rearwardly.

11. The combination with two pivotally connected vehicles, a power transmission mechanism coupling a drive shaft of the one vehicle to a driven shaft of the other, a first. universal joint on the drive shaft, a second universal joint on the driven shaft, a third universal joint disposed in said mechanism, means for supporting said mechanism intermediately of said first and second jointsi and means responsive to a turning of sai holes for moving 881d supports transversely to distribute the angle between said drivingand driven shafts unequally between" said three universaljoints. r

12. The combination with two pivotally connected vehicles, of power transmission mechanism coupling a drive shaft of the one vehicle to a driven shaft of the other, a first universal joint on the drive shaft, a second 1 universal joint on the driven shaft, a third universal oint dis sed in said mechanism, means for supporting said mechanism intermediately of said first and second joints, and means responsive to a turning of said vehicles for moving said supports transversely to distribute the angle between said driving and driven shafts proportionately between said three universal 'oints so that the sum of the angles at whic the individual joints are working is slightly greater than the angle between said shafts. I

- 13. In, a motion transmitting means adapted to transmit motion from one pivotally connected vehicle to another comprising a pluralit of shafts, means for su'p brting one of sai shafts for horizontal pivotal movement; and means comprising links associated with said supporting means for substantially equally distributing the angularity of said shafts.v

14. In a motion transmitting means adapted to transmit motion from one pivotally connected vehicle to another comprising a plurality of shafts, means forsupportingone of said shafts for horizontal pivotal movement, and means comprising links associated with said supporting means andone of said shafts for substantially e ually distributing the an larity of said sha s.

15. n a motion transmitting means adapted to transmit motion from one pivotally connected vehicle to another comprising a plurality of shafts, means for supporting one of said shafts for horizontal ivotal move-.

ment, and means comprisin lin 'sassociated with said support and sai shafts 'for'substantially e uall distributin the angularity g 3 g I of said sha 16.- In combination, a drawing vehicle and a drawn vehicle pivotally connectedtogether,

a rotatable shaft on each vehicle, means connecting said shafts including universaljoints and an intermediate shaft, a sleeve on the intermediate shaft, and means responsive to angular movements betweensaid vehicles in one plane and connected to said 'sleeve for moving said intermediate shaft in the same plane. a

1 7. The combination with a drawiieig vehicle and a drawn'vehicle, of an articula line of; shafting extending between the vehicles comprising a shaft on each vehicle,

means connecting said shafts including an intermediate shaft and universal joints provlding connection between the shafts, a sleeve lie" on the intermediateshaft, and means responsive to relative angular movements of the vehicles and connected with the sleeve for laterally deflecting the intermediate shaft.

18. In a. motion transmitting means.

adapted to transmit motion from one pivotally connected vehicle to another comprising a plurality of shafts, means for substan-- tially equally distributing the angularity of the shafts, said means comprising links.

19. In a motionvtransmittingmeans adapted to transmit motion from one pivotally connected vehicle to another 00 prising a plurality of shafts, universal oints connecting said shafts, and means for substantially e ually distributing the angularity of said sha s, said means comprising links. 5

20. The combination with amotionti'ansmitting means comprising a plurahty of issww shafts connected by universal j oints, of means for substantially equalizing the singularity of the shafts when one shaft assumes an anguiar relation to the others, said means comprising links.

In'witness whereof, We hereunto subscribe our names this 10th day of January, 1928.

WILIB UR J. COULTAS.

ROBERT C. LIVESAY. 

